The Gold Saucer Date
by mystic moogle
Summary: Aeris and Tifa are both keen on accompanying Cloud at the Gold Saucer, but Cloud isn't interested. Cloud/Barret, Aeris/Tifa.


**A/N:** Here is a short request I did for a friend involving Cloud/Barret and Aeris/Tifa. I interpreted some of the events of Disc 1 a bit differently in order to make this work. Hope you enjoy!

x – x - x

Cloud stares at his two prospective love interests with a blasé expression. Aeris is tugging on his arm playfully and Tifa is gazing at him with her hopeful brown, doe-like eyes. Both are hoping he'll choose them as his date for the Gold Saucer.

Cloud's eyes slide to the right, where Red XIII sits in the middle of the station with a wise yet vaguely amused expression. Barret fumes silently in place, still in a huff from his episode at North Corel, and runs off.

"So PLAY! ...messin' round # ^%$! 'Jes leave me alone!"

The dark man jumps into the pipe leading into Wonder Square, leaving the yellow and garish Station. Cloud extricates his arm from Aeris's grasp and casts his gaze off to the side.

"Not interested," he explains shortly and follows Barret into the rainbow-colored pipe.

x - x - x

He emerges from the pipe shortly after with a calm expression. _Kinda rude of them if you ask me,_ Cloud thinks as he proceeds into the colorful room filled with entertainment and arcade games. A woman clad in a sexy black and citrus striped dress greets him with a sultry smile, offering to explain the GP system to him, but Cloud waves her off in favor of searching for his friend.

 _Why are all these females so interested in me?_ Cloud wonders as he passes by another lady with red hair and a purple dress winking at him from her pinball machine. _Better find Barret before his temper blows up._

He and Barret had become surprisingly close over the course of their adventure, especially after the rest of AVALANCHE had been lost and Biggs and Wedge and Jessie fell with Sector 7. Not to mention Aeris and Tifa only seem to be interested in courting him and their rivalry makes Cloud feel rather awkward.

He passes by the strobe lights and proceeds into the second arcade room, which seems even more intense than the first. Colorful machines decorate the room and the crowd is multiplied to match the number of machines. Cloud searches for his friend, but to no avail.

 _Whatever. I guess he really does wanna be alone for the time being,_ Cloud thinks as he returns to the first room and shoots some hoops to pass the time at the Super Dunk machine. He's surprisingly bad at it, though he manages to overpower the Sumo Wrestler on the Arm Wrestling machine by far.

Gold GP clinks against the slot on the machine, and Cloud laments briefly that he has nothing to spend it on. He nearly does a double-take when he realizes the same woman clad in the striped dress is leering at him from her vantage point near the entrance and quickly heads to the other room once more.

The ex-SOLDIER spots the G-Bike machine and smirks. _Now this I can appreciate,_ he thinks and gets on the bike with ease. A little icon of himself appears on the screen with his Buster Sword, and he's reminded of the time he had to protect Aeris and Tifa in the little car from adversaries when they were escaping Shinra Headquarters. The thought makes him sigh as he finishes the game on the precarious highway and gets off the motorcycle.

Frustrated, he seeks advice from the Crystal Fortune-teller, who aptly tells him 'It's up to you to clarify'. Cloud rakes a hand through his blond hair as a moue decorates his face. _Why is it always up to me?_

He spots a cute moogle machine in the corner labeled 'The Mog House', and figures he has nothing better to do at the moment. He pays 100 gil to play and the screen flickers to life as a house in the forest of Mt. Mog appears. A small white moogle exits thereafter and the game enlightens Cloud of Mog's journey to find a mate.

Cloud finds the game oddly endearing as he feeds the moogle some Kupo Nuts, urging the winged creature to fly at last. He feels a strange sense of accomplishment as he watches the moogle fly around in elegant circles.

Soon after, a female moogle appears and watches expectantly atop a mushroom.

 _What is he supposed to do now?_ Cloud thinks. _Impress her?_

He gazes at the screen with a surly expression as he spaces out and feeds Mog too many Kupo Nuts. Mog jumps from his perch on the mushroom with bated breath, only to find that he has grown too fat to fly. He falls to the mossy ground and the female moogle leaves.

 _Continue?_ The game asks and gives him ten seconds to decide, but Cloud scoffs and leaves. A young man with muted blond hair surprises him by speaking up with his hand on his chin in contemplation.

"Hmm... I'm impressed. Thanks for showing me it," he tells Cloud and proffers 30 GP. Startled, the ex-SOLDIER merely nods in affirmation and accepts it gratefully.

 _Well, that was nice of him,_ Cloud thinks as he begins to head off. The fervent battle cries of a familiar baritone voice captures his attention. He whirls around and spots Barret at the 3D Battler duking it out with a burly man in a mask.

"I'mma beat yo ass!" Barret yells as he controls his holographic form with vigor. Cloud scratches the back of his head and heads over to him.

"Hey," he offers simply and leans against the rail as he waits. Barret lands a good one on the man's shoulder, but the masked man lands an even better one on Barret's ribs. The holographic form of the dark man crumples to the ground and flickers a few times before disappearing.

"Aw, hell!" Barret yells and lowers his head in defeat. "I was 'bout to win, too! You're messin' me up, Cloud!"

"It's not my fault," he says with cool indifference as he folds his arms across his chest. Sighing, Cloud lets up and places a hand on the defeated man's shoulder. "So what happened back at North Corel? You feeling okay?"

Barret casts his gaze off to the side and leaves the 3D Battler platform. "I 'jes... I don't wanna talk about it."

"Okay," Cloud replies simply and makes to head off, but Barret's voice intervenes.

"At least, not here with erryone watchin' us, Cloud! You gotta be crazy! It's some heavy stuff!"

"...Right." Cloud's eyes slide over to regard the crowd that formed prior to their conversation, Barret's enthused yells having attracted some bystanders. There are some young women admiring him now, drawn to his spiky blond hair and pierced ear. "Let's go back to our hotel room, then."

"Nah. That place is spooky as hell, man."

"Tsk," Cloud scoffs though a smile nearly tugs at his lips. He purses them immediately and schools his face into a calm expression. Remembering the GP he amounted earlier, he says, "I think I know where we can go."

x - x - x

Tifa Lockhart stares at the screen with a hopeful expression, her hand poised over the joystick of the Mog House game. She watches with bated breath as the female moogle, Mag, ambles over to the male moogle's tree house and knocks on the door.

 _She must be so nervous,_ Tifa thinks, but silently cheers when he opens the door and looks delighted at Mag's appearance.

Mag sits on the pink mushroom as Mog gets ready to show off his flying abilities. She flutters her wings and silently cheers him on as his form lifts from the mushroom and he flies around in elegant circles. They enter his tree house together thereafter and the game skips to a later period when Mog and Mag have settled down together.

They leave their home for a quiet date in the forest, followed by many healthy baby moogles. Tifa clasps her hands together as the game comes to a close and a sigh filters through her lips.

 _Oh, Cloud... where are you now?_ She thinks she spots a tuft of spiky blond hair and a dark uniform, but the vision disappears. _Why didn't you want to keep your promise?_

Tifa collects the GP she earned and heads out of Wonder Square. She hops into the portal leading to Ghost Square and finds herself in a creepy-looking graveyard with a deserted hotel sitting atop a hill. An amethyst haze surrounds the entire manor and synthetic bats flutter around outside the windows, which seem to glow with an eerie radiance. Tifa internally applauds the staff for creating such a believable atmosphere.

She ascends the steps to the Ghost Hotel and is immediately greeted by a sketchy butler in a mask. "Welcome!" he chimes, and Tifa merely nods and rubs her arm fearfully as she checks in. A dummy with sallow green skin drops down from the noose hanging around its neck and greets her likewise.

"Ah... I'm with the Strife party today," she says quickly and the dummy nods its head, its mop of black hair hanging over its head like seaweed.

"Room II, Miss," it says and she high-tails it out of there, making her way up the red carpeted steps and promptly ignoring the mounted goblin that seems to watch her every move. She searches for her room in the dark atmosphere, lit only by the candlesticks lining the walls, and espies the number 'II' etched in gold.

Tifa walks in, relieved at last, though the form of a young woman clad in pink and red captures her attention. She lies on the bed in a supine form, picking the petals off of a pure white flower.

"He loves me, he loves me not..."

"Aeris?" Tifa blinks and walks forward carefully, sitting across from her on the second single.

The brown-haired woman sits up at once and casts the flower off to the side. "Oh, Tifa! I didn't realize we were sharing a room. Are you sleepy yet?"

"No, not really," she answers honestly, and then lowers her head. "I just... I can't seem to find Cloud."

"Hmm," she hums, a musical lilt to her voice. There is a pause. "I know what you mean."

Tifa lifts her head carefully, gazing at her through her lashes. "You like him too, right, Aeris?"

"I do," she answers honestly, caught red-handed with her silly flower fancies. "Though it doesn't seem he's very interested in either of us."

Tifa is tempted to refute that claim, tempted to speak of their childhood bond and forgotten promise and his crush on her when he was twelve. Though inside she knows it's true.

"He didn't want to keep his promise," she says quietly, her voice nearly a whisper. She wraps her arms around herself and lowers her gaze to the floor. "I thought Cloud was a hero."

"He is, in his own right," Aeris answers simply. She gazes upon her levelly with her stunning emerald eyes and places her hand atop hers. Tifa's breath hitches and she suddenly understands why Cloud agreed to be her bodyguard, feeling like a mere mortal in the presence of a goddess. "Cloud came for both of us, right?"

"I guess so. But..." The hand that isn't occupied by Aeris' flies to her chest. "I was the one who was concerned for you at the Shinra Headquarters! I know it was mostly guilt over Marlene, but... I wanted to save you too."

She lowers her head bashfully and a smile graces Aeris' face. She squeezes her hand and says, "You're so sweet! To be honest, I was the one who egged Cloud into saving you at Wall Market. He was hesitant to dress up because he didn't want to be seen as a fellow lady!"

"Oh, Cloud!" They both share a laugh. "You didn't even know me back then, Aeris."

"Mm," she agrees. "Cloud and I were sitting in the park when a large carriage housing a beautiful young woman passed by. But the clothes you were wearing were odd, so I was concerned since I knew Don Corneo's mansion was nearby. Anyone important to Cloud is important to me, too."

"Oh, stop!" Tifa blushes and retracts her hand, if only to retrieve the gold GP in her pocket. "I think we've both been pursuing Cloud too hard. I think we should give him a break and let him follow his heart."

She opens the palm of her hand, where the gold GP gleams. "And maybe us, too. Do you want to go to Round Square with me, Aeris?"

"I would love to," she says, her green eyes shining forth brilliantly. Aeris leans forward and tucks a new, clean white flower into Tifa's hair. She proffers her hand as Tifa blushes girlishly and gazes into the mirror, enjoying the contrast between her dark brown hair and the white flower.

"Well?" Aeris asks playfully and Tifa takes her hand. The two young woman leave the forlorn manor and head to the fantastical sights of Round Square.

x - x - x

"Outta all the places at the Gold Saucer, you choose _this_ place?! The hell, Cloud?" Barret's voice sounds like a constant mix between enraged, frustrated and amused. The thought itself amuses Cloud endlessly and his lips quirk into a half-smile as he watches the taller man gesticulate wildly.

"We could always go back to the Ghost Hotel," he deadpans and Barret shudders.

"Throw any enemy at me that I can take down with gunfire, but I ain't dealin' with ghosts," he replies in an equally deadpan manner.

The duo continues down the line leading to the gondola ride at Round Square, a tad delayed due to an unexpected run in with a toy cat named Cait Sith. Cloud would rather not think of the fortune he just read.

A fat chocobo statue sitting atop the ticket booth draws his attention as the woman bearing the tickets calls out to them. "Welcome! This attraction costs 3 GP. Shall you be riding this evening?"

"Yes, we shall," Cloud answers and Barret quirks a brow at him. He promptly ignores the older man as the wooden gondola booth creaks to a halt and he nods towards the booth, allowing Barret to enter first as he follows shortly afterwards.

They both sit down like manly men and an awkward silence ensues. Both of them know this attraction is meant for couples yet neither of them are complaining. Cloud sits with his arms crossed and Barret follows suit.

He casts his gaze off to the side, where he spots Aeris and Tifa in the gondola booth next door, much to his surprise. _Good for them,_ Cloud thinks. _Maybe they'll stop bothering me._

Another glance to the side reveals a couple: a young woman with wine-red hair and a boy with short black hair. Cloud wonders vaguely if it's the same woman from the pinball machine.

The ex-SOLDIER stops deliberately distracting himself and focuses his attention back on the man before him. Barret is gazing out the window at the world glowing with golden radiance against a dark night sky.

"So talk," Cloud offers and makes a vague hand gesture. He's never been good at these types of things, though the stoic expression on Barret's face is concerning him.

A look of pain sweeps across his face and he slumps his shoulders in defeat. "I dunno, man. What is there to talk about? What happened back there ain't nobody's fault but mine. Corel was a small but calm town before I went 'n ruined everything by suggesting we switch from coal to Mako reactors. My best friend Dyne was the only one against it."

Cloud gazes at him carefully, before saying, "Like Tifa said, we were all fooled by the promises Shinra made back then."

"I know, 'an it pisses me off! See this arm cannon here, Cloud?" Barret holds up his metallic arm that shines like gun metal. "Shinra shot off a load 'o bullets and my arm went kerflooey and I dropped my best friend off a cliff. They'll pay for what they done! I'mma use this arm as a weapon against Shinra until the day I die, dammit!"

"All the better for saving the Planet, then," Cloud says quietly.

Barret lowers his head again. "I lost my best friend and my wife, Myrna." He holds up his arm cannon. "What would she think if she saw me now...?"

"Aeris, Tifa and I don't think any less of you for it, so why should she?"

"Guess so. I'm lucky Marlene puts up with me. I ain't fit to take care of her. At least not alone, while the Planet's dyin' and we're fightin' tryna save it." A sigh filters through his lips and he gazes earnestly upon Cloud. "Listen, Cloud, there's somethin' I oughta tell you."

"Yeah?"

"Marlene is Dyne's biological daughter."

"What?" Cloud scratches the back of his head as fireworks light the night sky. "That's news to me." He always knew Marlene wasn't Barret's biological child, but the knowledge of her origins is still somewhat tragic.

The gondola makes its steady descent across the land of the Gold Saucer, its golden mushroom-like tops and various attractions looking oddly gorgeous against the black backdrop. They pass over the Ghost Hotel and Barret lowers his head.

"I love Marlene to pieces, but it ain't fair to her for me to be fightin' all the time. She needs a mother."

"There's Tifa," Cloud suggests awkwardly, but deep down he knows they don't have that type of relationship.

"Nah. Tifa's more like a sister to Marlene, which I'm grateful for, 'course." Barret continues to sit with his arms folded across his chest as he gazes out the window at the world of the Gold Saucer.

 _Well, here goes nothing..._

"I'm here too," Cloud reminds him, causing Barret's attention to snap back to him as he barks out a laugh.

"Say what! You ain't no parent, Cloud!" Barret's laughter dwindles to a chuckle, and then stops completely once he realizes Cloud might be serious.

"I could be," he says with a certain softness to his voice and in his eyes, caused by the strobe lights shining outside and bringing out the blue in his eyes.

The gondola ride slows to a stop and Cloud gets up with cool indifference, kisses Barret on the nose, and walks out. Barret remains frozen in place as a blush stains his cheeks and he enters one of his frenzied states.

"The hell, Cloud?! Why you always gotta be makin' a scene like that?!"

He runs out after him, but Cloud merely rakes a hand through his hair and says, "Just doing what I always do."

"Goddammit, Cloud!" Barret chases him across Round Square and eventually follows him into the rainbow-colored pipe.

x – x – x

 **A/N:** Hehe, I enjoyed writing this a lot. Barret's such a spazz. I decided I shipped these two during the train scene at the beginning and I thought Tifa's constant reminders to save Aeris at Shinra HQ were very sweet. Thanks for reading!

\- mystic moogle


End file.
